Congestion Pricing Policy – Factoring Shared Mobility and Autonomous Vehicles 

Abstract
This proposed speech will focus on the need to think about congestion pricing in more dynamic terms with respect to the continued growth of shared mobility and potential deployment of autonomous vehicles in urban centers. There is a consensus among economists today that congestion pricing represents the single most viable and sustainable approach to reducing traffic congestion. Congestion pricing works by shifting some rush hour travel to other transportation modes or to off-peak periods. Case studies will primarily focus on New York’s plan to implement congestion pricing in phases from 2018 to 2021. Traffic gridlock in Manhattan’s Central Business District has reached a breaking point due to the rapid expansion of Uber and Lyft since 2014. In February 2019, New York State implemented a congestion surcharge for taxis and for-hire vehicles below 96th street of Manhattan. The decline in the number of trips since the enforcement of the surcharge has been negligible. Moreover, the percentage of shared rides has not improved, a clear sign that the incentives for pooled rides has not worked. In light of these observations, I will present the case for shared rides to be exempt from any form of road pricing. Another important variable to be discussed is autonomous mobility. At the end of the day, a car is still a car, and regardless of the ownership model (private vs. fleet), it will still take up more road space than public transit. A new study by UC Santa Cruz makes a convincing case that autonomous vehicles will exacerbate traffic congestion. When not in use, autonomous vehicles will be parked somewhere or circle around, causing an increase in VHT. The rational and benefits of implementing congestion pricing before full market adoption of autonomous vehicles will be explained in more detail.